Academic Information Technology's Facilities for Faculty Training & Development

The Faculty Training and Development Lab (managed by AIT) gives faculty access to hardware and academic software, as well as training and support in the effective use of contemporary computer technology.

Faculty receive assistance with specialized, state-of-the-art equipment and software for Web page development and management, video capture, digital imaging, optical character recognition, desktop publishing, creating 35mm slides, authoring multimedia, and mastering CD-ROMs or DVDs, as well as more basic applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software, and FTPing.

Staff (including Web and multimedia design specialists) generate documentation, provide training, and support faculty in a variety of settings: small group instruction, individual tutorials, office visits, telephone calls, and e-mail.

Our move to relatively remote temporary quarters–spaces that lack the "heart of the campus" location of the Once-and-Future-Library–has only increased telephone contact and requests for "house calls."

Library Systems staff are available to provide technical support to faculty, resolving hardware, software, and application development problems.

"As we now occupy our new permanent home in the most technologically advanced library in New York City, our challenge is to build a robust new media studio for faculty. As faculty participate in AIT's Blackboard workshops and learn more about the Interactive Syllabus, we're observing a reduced need for basic software support (e.g. word processing). Faculty are demonstrating a need more advanced technology training and support.

"In addition to assistance with advanced Web programming, faculty are expressing greater interest in rich digital media for their online course sites. In addition to faculty who want to record brief introductory video for their Blackboard course sites, we have been asked to record digitally entire lectures for archival purposes." Nicholas Irons, Associate Director for Faculty Training & Development

As the College has succeeded in placing adequately equipped PCs on faculty desks, there has been a concomitant decrease in full-time faculty's use of the Lab. Some come for the specialized equipment, more come for the aid and advice. However adjuncts, many of whom lack computers or even offices, are becoming a primary client base. We feel that the Lab must continue to serve our traditional full-time faculty clientele, as well as the new adjunct clientele.

This means considering new roles for the Lab that will generate greater usage. Our current thinking is to increase the equipment devoted to graphics and media conversion, and also to open the Lab to selected advanced students. These discussions are both preliminary and on-going.

Some faculty who are using technology to teach do so synchronously rather than asynchronously. The College's two Multimedia Classrooms are popular venues for this type of instruction. AIT staff schedule these spaces and maintain the hardware and software installed there. Staff meet with faculty to ensure that the classrooms are appropriately configured for their classes. They acquire and load the software that faculty require. These spaces are heavily booked. The classrooms also support WebCourse, the Faculty Workshop series, and the Virtual Core Project.

The Library Cafe supports faculty engaged in Web-based teaching by freeing them from the need to use class time to teach their students the technical "basics" for accessing the course sites instructors have created. Faculty send their students to the Cafe for one-to-one instruction, or arrange group training. For more information, see Section II, Assuring a Student Oriented Campus, The Morton & Angela Topfer Library Cafe, which follows.